Hilton headed toward Nile Beach. “I hope you like
Frank’s Fish Box.”
“I love it.”
“Good. I’m glad you agreed to have dinner with me, Ava.
I’m sorry I didn’t give you more notice, but I really did want to see you again before I leave.”
She kept her voice even despite of a sudden stab of panic. “You are coming back, aren’t you?”
“Oh, sure. This is just a quick visit. I’ve lived in Palmdale for four months and don’t know many people here, so it would be silly to spend Christmas here.”
“You don’t sound too enthusiastic about going home for the holiday.”
“I’m not. To tell you the truth, it’s my least favorite time of year. But it should be nice. I’m going to spend Christmas with my son. And the rest of my family as well.”
She had wanted to ask why it was his least favorite type of year, but his additional remark caught her off guard, and she blinked in surprise. “Your son? How old is he?”
“Six. I feel bad enough about not doing better by him, and Christmas just drives it home.”
Ava knew all about the holidays driving home life’s disappointments. Now she felt a kinship with Hilton. “Of course, I don’t know anything about the situation, but I’m sure you’re devoted to him.”
“I’m crazy about him. I just wanted him to have a home with two parents, but it didn’t work out. Now all I can do is hope his mother and I can manage to at least be civil to each other while I’m there.” He muttered something unintelligible.
Ava took that to be a few choice words for the boy’s mother. “I gather you and your ex-wife don’t get along too well.”
“No, we don’t. And she’s not my ex-wife. I tried to get her to marry me when she got pregnant, but she refused. I didn’t realize at the time that—well, that’s another story. In the six years since our son was born I’ve come to realize that she did me a tremendous favor by refusing to marry me, but I’ll always regret that my son is growing up with the two of us at odds.”
“I’m sure he’ll be all right. The important thing is for him to know each of his parents loves him very much.”
“You do have a point. Have you ever been married, Ava?”
“Oh, years and years ago,” she said lightly.
“You don’t have children, I suppose.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked a little on the monosyllable, but Hilton didn’t notice.
“Do you like kids?” he was asking.
“Oh, I love them.” She added softly, “My biggest regret in life is not getting to be a mother.”
“Well, don’t give up, Ava. You never know what life’s going to bring you.”
“No, I guess you don’t.” Her words had a carefree tone, but in a display of skepticism Hilton couldn’t see she raised her right eyebrow. I may not know what life is going to bring me, but I know what it isn’t going to bring me. It was time to change the subject. “I’m curious, Hilton. What made you come to Palmdale?”
“I was ready for a change. I had put in twenty years with the police force in Augusta and was eligible for a pension. The situation with my son’s mother was becoming intolerable. I came down to Nile Beach for a vacation last year and explored the area. Palmdale looked like a good place to start the kind of business I wanted to run, especially with all the new construction and the restoration of those old houses in the historic district. Besides, it wasn’t too far from Augusta.”
“Oh, you were a policeman.”
“Yes. Believe it or not, I liked the idea of helping people.”
“But you said you studied architecture.”
“After high school my dad insisted I do something to stay out of trouble until I was twenty-one and old enough to join the force. I took up carpentry as a hobby later. It was a great stress buster.”
***
Frank’s Fish Box was a popular informal seafood restaurant on Ocean Avenue in Nile Beach. The two-story restaurant was large and square, actually shaped like a box. Like every other building in the area it was lit with Christmas lights. Because of its boxy shape, the overall effect was that of an oversize Christmas gift.
It was also full, but only four people were waiting to be seated in the reception and bar area in the front. The hostess took their name and assured them a table would be available within the next fifteen minutes.
“Let’s have a drink,” Hilton suggested. They sat at the bar, and Ava ordered a Chardonnay, Hilton a Seven and Seven.
“Ava, hi!”
“Linda! What a surprise! I thought you were living in West Palm.” Ava warmly hugged the attractive fortyish woman who’d been passing by with a companion.
“I am, but we came to spend the holiday at my father’s. It was here that we met two years ago. I guess we’re just sentimental.” She took the arm of the bespectacled man standing to her left, whose black hair contained a smattering of gray. “Honey, this is Ava Maxwell, an old friend of mine. Ava, this is my husband, Neil Barkley.”
Ava shook hands with Linda’s husband, then introduced Hilton to both of them. “Tell me, will you be here for the entire holiday season?” she asked, beaming. She was so happy for her friend, whose face just glowed.
“Until January second.”
“Then you must come to my open house New Year’s Day. Take down my address.”
The bartender placed their drinks in front of them just as Linda completed writing down Ava’s address. Neil held up his hand. “I’ll take care of that, bartender,” he said.
“Oh, that’s all—” Hilton began.
“No, I insist,” Neil said. He squeezed Linda’s shoulders affectionately. “We’re celebrating. Linda’s pregnant.”
Ava placed her hand palm down on the surface of the bar and swallowed hard. Pregnant? Linda? If it were anyone else…but Linda? How could that be?
The answer came to her just as quickly.
It couldn’t be.
Hilton was offering congratulations and pumping Neil’s hand. “Hey, that’s wonderful.”
“Um...will you excuse me?” Ava asked. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She knew Hilton and Neil would think her behavior odd, but she had to compose herself, quickly, and in private.
“I think I’ll go along,” Linda said. She hurried off behind Ava.
In the privacy of the lounge area of the ladies powder room, Linda said, “Thanks for not giving me away. I know Neil’s announcement came as a shock.”
“Linda, what’s going on? In our infertility support group you said your endometriosis was so severe you had to have a hysterectomy.”
“I did. It cost me a husband, and I thought I’d never get over it. But then I met Neil. He’s wonderful, Ava. He’s been married before, too, but only for a few years. He’s gotten everything he’s wanted out of life except children. He told me from the beginning that he wanted a family, that even one child would be fine. I agreed.”
“Linda, how could agree to such a thing when you knew it was impossible?”
“I didn’t want to lose him, Ava! Don’t you understand? I can’t be dumped twice in a lifetime because I can’t have kids!”
Ava took her friend’s hand. “I know what happened to you was devastating, and I think your husband—your first husband, I mean—was a macho heel to treat you the way he did, but don’t you see how wrong this is? Obviously you can’t keep up the charade forever. So what happens? A miscarriage? Surely you’re not going to steal someone’s baby!”
“Of course not. It’ll be a miscarriage. What other choice do I have? I’ve been faking having periods all this time.”
Ava shook her head. “Linda, how could you?”
“Everybody can’t be as noble as you are, Ava, and walk out of an otherwise happy marriage.”
“But it’s what Neil wanted. How can you knowingly deprive him of that?”
“I have no choice,” Linda repeated. “It’ll be soon, after we’re back home. He has to go out of town on business the second week in January, and by the time he gets home it’ll all be over. Then I’ll just never be able to conceive. That’s not so unusual for women my age. I’m forty-two, you know. Maybe then Neil will want to adopt. He wasn’t too keen on the idea when I suggested that my childbearing years might be behind me.”
“Oh, Linda.” Ava shook her head.
“Please go along with me on this, Ava. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
“What about your family? How do you know your father won’t give it away?”
“My father doesn’t even know I had a hysterectomy. All I told him at the time was that I needed gynecological surgery. He knew from when my mother was alive that I had all kinds of female troubles, but I didn’t have the surgery until after my mother had passed. You know how uncomfortable men are with those details. He’s remarried now, and my stepmother doesn’t know about it either. Ava, are you with me on this? I need to know.”
“I won’t say anything,” she said after a long moment of silence.
“Oh, thank you, honey!” Linda hugged her, but it was with a limp hand that Ava patted her friend’s shoulder.
“Your friends seemed nice,” Hilton commented when they were seated at a table.
“Well, I only know Linda. This was the first time I met her husband. I didn’t even know she had remarried.”
“I wouldn’t imagine you two went to school together. She looks closer to my age than yours.”
“No, we didn’t go to school together, but Nile Beach, where we both grew up, is a small town.” Of course, it wouldn’t do to say where she knew Linda from.
“Neil’s tickled pink about her pregnancy. He said he’s forty-five and this will be his first child. I guess he was too busy making money. He mentioned he’s with First Florida, and from the looks of that watch he’s wearing and the size of Linda’s diamond, I don’t think he’s a teller. I thought I had gotten a late start, and I was thirty-five when my son was born. But then again, their kid will have everything...plus both parents to boot,” he concluded, sounding wistful.
The grass is always greener, Ava thought bitterly, still angry over Linda’s deceiving her husband. Granted, it wasn't her business, but Linda was wrong to lie to Neil...and wrong to ask Ava to help her conceal it. But Ava felt trapped. How could she refuse to help her friend?
“I think you’re beating yourself up unfairly over your situation, Hilton,” she said now. “Plenty of kids have parents who don’t get along. It might not make for the most pleasant set of circumstances, but it’s not the end of the world, either.”
“Maybe, but like I said before, the holiday only drives it all home.”
Ava was tired of discussing children, especially after learning about Linda’s dishonesty. She decided to broach a topic she had been curious about. “You mentioned you weren’t interested in expanding your business. That seemed unusual to me; it seems like everyone’s breaking their necks to make money these days.”
“Success is something that’s really measured by a personal yardstick. Money is fine, but it can’t buy you the things that count. Do you think ultra-wealthy people like Jackie Onassis and Reginald Lewis would have died so young if all their millions could have kept them alive? I’m content with having everything I need and some other things just because it’s what I want.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say. She had never met anyone quite like Hilton White.
A Love of Her Own, eBook available now!
